Peonies & Popsicles

As the end of the school year approaches, our pace of life has been accelerating steadily with appointments, planning for summer visitors, sewing orders, and somehow not letting four dogs' worth of winter fur take over the house. I always seem to get more done the busier I am, and yet I was reaching a point where I needed a time-out. Fortunately I was in a cooking sort of mood the other day, and whipped up a batch of perfect aqua playdough. Jack and I spent a good hour playing with the warm dough and giggling nonstop. The photograph below is not representative of the fantastic mess we made of it.

After a much needed break, it was back to the grind. But last night I was awakened by a tremendous thunderstorm. I had to rush out of bed to close the windows and lay awake as lighting completely illuminated our bedroom. It was the kind of Midwestern thunderstorm that used to terrify me as a child, and in fact it didn't take long before we heard little feet padding down the stairs and climbing into bed with us. The storm finally subsided and we drifted back to sleep. This morning I ventured outside to see how the garden fared, and discovered some lovely and very waterlogged peonies that had begun to bloom.

The rain had completely rejuvenated the flowers and grass and our little bird feeding area was teeming with baby robins and rabbits. It reminded me how I've always been fascinated by the process of watching things grow. Flowers bloom from tiny buds, small kids grow into bigger kids even after consuming what seems like nothing but dirt and popsicles, piles of neatly folded fabric turn into something completely different.

Even after years of sewing, I still love watching this

turn into this

turn into this

I guess sometimes it just takes a good rain to make me slow down and enjoy life's little everyday magic. I hope you too can find the time to stop and smell the flowers today, or at least share a popsicle with a loved one.

Kim